Early career In his early 20s, Perry moved to
Sacramento to start a band, later named Ice, with 16-year-old future music producer
Scott Mathews, who co-wrote, played drums and guitar and sang. In 1972, they recorded at the
Record Plant studios in Los Angeles by day while
Stevie Wonder recorded his
Talking Book album by night. Upon returning to Sacramento, Ice disbanded as they had no management, Mathews was still in high school, and the recordings went virtually unheard. In 1975, Perry moved to
Thousand Oaks, California, where he formed a
progressive rock band called Pieces with
Tim Bogert (who had previously worked with
Jeff Beck), Denver Cross, and Eddie Tuduri. After a year and a half, the group was unable to secure a record deal and disbanded. Perry also unsuccessfully auditioned to replace
Rod Evans in
Captain Beyond. Perry then moved to
Banta, a small community near
Tracy, California, where he fronted the band Alien Project in his mid-20s. He nearly gave up music when the bassist of that band, Richard Michaels, was killed in an automobile accident.
Journey era Upon returning to Lemoore, Perry decided not to continue his singing career, but at the urging of his mother, he answered a call from
Herbie Herbert, manager of struggling
San Francisco-based band
Journey. Herbert had been given a demo of an Alien Project song, "If You Need Me, Call Me", and was told by producer Scott Mathews that the young singer would be a great replacement for then-current frontman
Robert Fleischman. Fleischman had never signed with Herbert's company (preferring his previous manager) and had not fully coalesced with the band's then progressive rock style. Perry was brought on tour and to avoid alarming Fleischman was referred to as a roadie's Portuguese cousin. During a
soundcheck in
Long Beach, Perry surreptitiously performed a song with Journey while Fleischman was away from the stage; soon thereafter, Herbert informed the band members that Perry was the new lead singer. Perry brought a radically new, more pop-influenced style sense to the band's music despite some grumblings from the band's existing members and fans of Journey's progressive rock sound. He made his public debut on October 28, 1977, in San Francisco to a mixed reception. Perry eventually won over new fans on his first album with the group,
Infinity, which included "
Lights", a single he co-wrote with lead guitarist
Neal Schon. The band's style changed dramatically, but as Journey began to garner
airplay and media buzz over
Infinity, Perry's arrival was fully accepted. Perry provided lead vocals on nine of Journey's albums:
Infinity (1978),
Evolution (1979),
Departure (1980),
Dream, After Dream (1980, a Japanese movie soundtrack),
Captured (1980, a live album),
Escape (1981, which reached No. 1 on the
Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart),
Frontiers (1983),
Raised on Radio (1986), and
Trial By Fire (1996). The single "
Open Arms" from
Escape was their biggest hit single, charting at No. 2 for six weeks on the
Billboard Hot 100. During his Journey tenure, Perry also sang backing vocals on several
Sammy Hagar songs, including the 1980 tracks "The Iceman" (a nickname Hagar had for Scott Mathews) and "Run For Your Life", and duetting with
Kenny Loggins on the 1982 No. 17 hit single "Don't Fight It". In 1984, following the release of
Frontiers and the tour supporting this effort, Perry released his first solo album,
Street Talk. The album's title was derived from the original name of Perry's earlier band Alien Project. The record sold more than 2 million units, scoring the hit singles "
Oh Sherrie", written for his then-girlfriend Sherrie Swafford and which went to No. 3 on the
Billboard Hot 100, and "Foolish Heart", which went to No. 18. The music video for "Oh Sherrie" was on heavy rotation on
MTV. The songs "She's Mine" and "Strung Out" were also released as singles. The album featured former Alien Project drummer
Craig Krampf on a few tracks, guitarist
Michael Landau, and future
American Idol judge
Randy Jackson on bass, among others. In 1985, Perry was one of 21 singers on the
USA for Africa all-star benefit song "
We Are the World". He also recorded a song, "If Only for the Moment, Girl" for the
We Are the World album. This song was added to the reissue of his album
Street Talk. Also during this period, Perry worked with the Irish folk-rock group
Clannad on their 1987 album
Sirius. While Perry was reuniting with Journey, his mother became ill. The recording of
Raised on Radio, which Perry was producing, was stop-and-go as he frequently returned to the
San Joaquin Valley to visit his mother, who died during the production of the album. It took a major toll on Journey to have intermittent recording sessions and a vocalist who was not with the band much of the time. Eventually, Perry became exhausted from the ordeal. Journey then went into hiatus in 1987 after the
Raised on Radio tour. In 1988, Perry began to work on another solo album,
Against the Wall, which he ultimately left unfinished, although several of the songs that were recorded for the album would appear on Perry's 1998 solo compilation,
Greatest Hits + Five Unreleased. A year later, on April 30, 1989, at the
Shoreline Amphitheatre in
Mountain View, California, Perry joined
Bon Jovi to perform Sam Cooke's "
Bring It On Home to Me" and the
Four Tops' "
Reach Out". He would also reunite with Journey at the
Bill Graham tribute concert, "Laughter, Love and Music" on November 3, 1991, at
Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, performing "
Faithfully" and "Lights". Other than those three events, however, Perry mostly disappeared from the public eye for seven years, taking a break from the music industry. In 1994, Perry released
For the Love of Strange Medicine, his second solo effort. The album was successful, partly due to the Strange Medicine world tour. Journey's classic 1981–85 lineup reunited in 1996 to record
Trial by Fire. The album was a huge success, entering the
Billboard charts at No. 3 and going platinum before year's end, but its triumph was short-lived. Before the
Trial By Fire tour could begin, Perry suffered a hip injury while hiking in Hawaii and was unable to perform. Perry was diagnosed with a degenerative bone condition and a hip replacement was required, and as he was reluctant to rush into the surgery, Perry wanted to postpone the tour. The remaining members waited until 1998, nearly 17 months after Perry's injury, before making a decision on Journey's future. Growing impatient and realizing the window of opportunity was closing to follow up the success of the
Trial By Fire LP with a world tour, Journey members
Jonathan Cain and
Neal Schon met with Perry. They presented him with an ultimatum: If he did not undergo hip replacement surgery so the tour could proceed upon his recovery, the band would hire a replacement singer. Still hesitant to undergo surgery, and now upset at his bandmates, Perry announced that he was permanently leaving Journey. His lead vocal duties were later taken over by
Steve Augeri of
Tall Stories. Nearly two years after the initial release of
Trial by Fire, Journey began to tour. Perry released his
Greatest Hits + Five Unreleased compilation album on December 15, 1998; the unreleased tracks included an original Alien Project demo as well as selections from the abandoned
Against the Wall album. Also in 1998, Perry recorded two songs for the
Warner Bros. film
Quest for Camelot, which can be found on the motion picture's soundtrack. During an episode of
VH1's
Behind the Music in 2001, Perry stated that he "never really felt like [he] was part of the band". Former manager Herbie Herbert reacted by saying, "That's like the Pope saying he never really felt Catholic."
21st century Perry appeared on two tracks by Kauai, Hawaii, artist Tommy Tokioka's album
Happy to Be Living, singing backup vocals on songs "I Wish You Were Mine" and "An Angel Above Me" in 2000. He collaborated with musician
Jeff Golub on a song titled "Can't Let You Go" for Golub's
Soul Sessions album, which was released in 2003. Perry provided vocals on the mostly instrumental jazz track. Perry appeared with other Journey members at a ceremony on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 21, 2005, after previously stating it was unlikely that he would ever perform with the band again. He indicated that though it was a good experience, it was unlikely that he would rejoin the band. However, he has also said, "never say never, unless you mean never, nevertheless" when the issue of returning to Journey has been mentioned. Perry co-produced "A Brand New Start", a track on a solo album for former
Ambrosia lead vocalist
David Pack, in 2005. Perry also provided co-vocals and background vocals for the track, among the many songs he and Pack co-wrote shortly after the
September 11, 2001 attacks. That album,
The Secret of Moving On, released in September 2005, includes
covers of two of Pack's biggest hits with Ambrosia, "
Biggest Part of Me" and "
You're the Only Woman". During the
2005 baseball season, the
Chicago White Sox adopted Journey's "
Don't Stop Believin' as their unofficial team anthem. As a result, Perry, a
San Francisco Giants fan, was asked to attend the
World Series and traveled with the White Sox to Houston, where he joined the players on the field and in the locker room as they celebrated winning the championship, their first since 1917. At three concerts in 2014, Perry joined the indie rock band
Eels during the encore and sang several songs. On April 7, 2017, Perry appeared alongside his Journey ex-bandmates for the first time since 2005 at the band's induction into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Perry gave an acceptance speech, but chose not to perform with the band in deference to current Journey lead singer
Arnel Pineda. Perry released a 10-track studio album,
Traces, on October 5, 2018. A U.S. Deluxe Edition was released at
Target and has five bonus tracks. Perry has described the album as a "cathartic" and "emotional expression" about the loss of a loved one. The record is Perry's third studio work and his first since
For the Love of Strange Medicine. On December 17, 2018, Perry released a cover of "
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". In March 2019, Perry released a deluxe version of the
Traces album, featuring five bonus tracks along with his first official music video in 25 years for "We're Still Here". On November 1, 2019, Perry released a three-song holiday EP,
Silver Bells. On November 5, 2021, Perry released his first-ever Christmas album,
The Season, via
Fantasy Records. On January 4, 2023, Perry confirmed that he sang backing vocals on
Dolly Parton's rock album,
Rockstar, in addition to singing a duet cover of "Open Arms" on the same album. On October 18, 2024, Perry announced that he would release a new holiday album, titled
The Season 3, on November 8, 2024, through
Dark Horse Records. ==Style==